Well I am back and with lots to talk about. I think I will take it in chronological order, so here we go...
Atlantic City
I was present for the boxing clinic that Sergio Martinez put on Kelly Pavlik on the eve of April 17th. Since I have always supported Pavlik, even through his troubled times, I was highly disappointed with him. Not just becuase he lost, but there seemed to be a willingness to not change his style and no determination left in the once shining star. Basically what it breaks down to here in my opinion is that Pavlik needs to re-evaluate his dedication to the sport.
It has been well documented that he likes to hit the bottle in between fights and party it up. This is something he can not afford to do. His latest troubles have been said to be due to him having trouble making weight. Well, to be honest Kelly, its hard to make 160 when you blow up to 195 in between fights with wings and beers.
The latest news has Kelly moving out of the Middleweight division he once ruled and heading north to 168 or 175. This is going to be a very big mistake. The thing that seperated Kelly from his Middleweight brothers was his ability to take hits and his punching power, this is all going to change. His chin and punching power will go from superior to slightly above average at best when he is up against bigger/stronger fighters.
Long story short, he shouldn't be running from the Middleweight division. He should have take the re-match clause and dropped Jack Loew. Bottom line is that Jack Loew can take Kelly no further. Kelly has a lot to thank Jack for, he trained him hard, he got him to the top, and he took care of his fighter, all things that Kelly should be very thankful for. The reality of it is that Kelly can not continue to fight top level fighters with nothing more than "double up the jab, straight right, walk him down", he has to change it up.
I still like Kelly Pavlik and still am a fan, but I'd prefer he did not run from the challange at Middleweight but instead made the changes to face it head on.
Sidenote: The crowd was great, and I won $600 at Ceaser's
Mayweather vs Mosley
Well this one played out just as I thought it would. Floyd's superior speed was too much for Shane. I did finally get to see what would happen when Floyd got popped with a good one, and he almost went down.
I think Shane really showed his age in this fight but I wouldn't say he is totally done yet. I think we should attribute that to the fact that he was training for Andre Berto before this fight and essentially had a 16 week training camp. This is still no excuse. He just flat out did not listen to Nazim Richardson. Nazim was giving him pin point, fantastic, advice during the fight and he just couldn't pull the trigger.
For Floyd we are back to the same old story, will Money and Pacman get it on? I really think if this fight does not work out then boxing should pack it in. The amount of money that can be made on this fight is mind blowing. All PPV record will be smashed, gate receipts will be smashed, a small country could function off of the money grossed on this fight. Even if they take a 60-40 or 50-50 split both fighters will make more than they ever have before or would have ever thought possible.
What's up?
Amir Khan had a good American debut by whitewashing Paulie Malinaggi. It was a safe fight for Khan, who has a suspect chin, to fight a feather fisted fighter like "The Magic Man". We'll see what happens when hopefully he can bang with someone like Katsidis.
Vitali Klitschko vs. Albert Sosnowski.....oh boy...I mean we have never seen Albert fight nor know much about him but something tells me this will be a brutal beatdown by Vitali.
Yuri Foreman vs Miguel Cotto...the Jabbing Jew is going to give a mentally broken Cotto. Between his fathers death, the beatdown Pacman gave him, and the doubters Cotto is a broken man. I do not think fighting a young and hungry guy like Foreman, in his hometown, is a good idea.
